I.<>N<;TAIU:I>TH 186 



LONGT AILED TIT 



[E. L. TURNKR] 



The longtailed-tit is at once distinguished from other titmice 

 by its tail, which is three-fifths of the bird's entire length. This 

 graceful appendage consists of long, slender feathers, so graduated 

 that the two outer ones are only about one-third the length of the 

 middle pair. No other member of the Tit Family is quite so charming 

 in all its ways as this most accomplished gymnast of the troupe. 

 During the wonderful aerial performances in which this agile bird 

 indulges, its long tail serves the same purpose as a human acrobat's 

 l;ilaii in- pol< . There is nothing in the way of topsy-turvy tricks 

 that the longtailed-tit cannot do, while his merry " z^e, zee, zee " resounds 

 from the highest tree-tops, where as an acrobat he is unrivalled. 



\\ IK ii thin.; in thr dprii. tlii-, liml ^cni- to hurl liim-< l! tlinm-h 

 space as if he were an animated pendulum which had somehow 

 attained a horizontal position, and momentarily taken leave of its 

 senses mad with a perfect riot of joy. The small, rounded body, 

 suffused with a delicate flush of pink, looks altogether too frail a thing 

 for a rough-and-tumble life amongst tumultuous pine-branches tossed 

 hither and thither by rude winter winds. Yet the longtailed-tit is 

 hardy enough and adventurous, roaming far and wide in search of 

 food and frolic. 



During the winter months little parties of longtailed-tits travel 

 about from place to place, often in company with goldcrests, coal 

 and marsh-tits, similarity of tastes necessarily drawing these species 

 together, as they are more strictly insectivorous than others of 

 their ilk. But there is no regularity about the visits of these winter 

 companies of longtailed-tits: they apparently come from nowhere 

 ami Ma\ a t u Imin-N m- maxl.r <la\ -. t IM-II |>a>>> <>n : ami prrluips 

 no more will be seen in the neighbourhood for some time. Every day 



